I've got ~300m (~980ft) on the ground so far with FrSky 2.4 ghz for control and 5.8ghz (200mw) for video. I'm looking for more open areas to go for a drive in as I run out of LOS quickly past that. Vid tx is 12" off the ground and the rc rx antennae are about the same. If the area is open and undulating I can sometimes drive a little out of LOS with video fuz as long as it isn't very far out of LOS but can't go around buildings at all really without the rc becoming very beepy (telemetry) and the video going to crap.

I answered my own question today. I strapped my camera onto my foamy and tossed her up in the air. I got the plane high enough that I was having a hard time keeping my climb rate steady. 2 flights, first time ever doing this. Absolutely awesome experience!!!

Whats up with my rainbow prop?!
Winds were 15-22mph, so the plane was more of a kite. Also, i need to figure out how to capture video without killing my laptop. pretty cool dive near the end of the video.

The "rainbow prop" is a side effect of the global shutter/cmos combo in the pixim cams. It is a better tradeoff than the "window blinds prop" from rolling shutter cmos cams.

Very nice camera! How heavy is it? Not sure what would cause the loss of video you had at the end. I've noticed I get weird colors/loss of video (black frame sort of thing) with really bad multipathing (driving the truck into an inside corner on a building at a moderate distance for ex). Perhaps there is enough ground clutter near where the plane was to cause issues?

Images

Well, first time I got to take my blu beam version of the SP out yesterday, then I was taking out my groundstation and the board I have everything on pulled away from its mount and landed on my truck seat, and unfortunately I had neglected to take the antenna off before loading it up, so it ended up getting scrunched.

Since I was trying it out with my new eagle eyes ground station with my bi-quad for diversity, I got it close to what I thought was original and put it on anyway. Then I was getting black screens when hardly any distance out in one direction, because I had also mistakenly set the EE unit to only use that antenna.

Now I am wondering if I can salvage it by getting it back to it's proper shape and form, so I'll be carefully reading the build instructions at the start of the thread.

Images

Well, first time I got to take my blu beam version of the SP out yesterday, then I was taking out my groundstation and the board I have everything on pulled away from its mount and landed on my truck seat, and unfortunately I had neglected to take the antenna off before loading it up, so it ended up getting scrunched.

Since I was trying it out with my new eagle eyes ground station with my bi-quad for diversity, I got it close to what I thought was original and put it on anyway. Then I was getting black screens when hardly any distance out in one direction, because I had also mistakenly set the EE unit to only use that antenna.

Now I am wondering if I can salvage it by getting it back to it's proper shape and form, so I'll be carefully reading the build instructions at the start of the thread.

Should be no problem to fix. Start by bending the lower wires such that thea a) form a 90 degrees angle towards the connector, and also form a 90 degree angle among them seen from top. Then look at the plane the four lower wires form by looking a the antenna from its side and turn it up until you look at one lobe such that the straigh part you just bent before looks towards you. Now you can verify/assure that the lobe looks up in a 45 degree angle.

i have a 5.8 system .. I made up only 1 clover antenna..
I think I got everything right.. well at least for first attempt..

But should I see an improvement ... .with only 1 ?

I only had 1 coax cable so .. I tested with it mounted on the Rx.. then on the Tx.. with stock at other end..

Test only indoors... image goes in and out every now and again..
I was going to make a second but I've have to destroy one of the coax antennas to get the part..

So I guess my main question was should there be a benefit with only 1..
so far dont see it..but maybe a second attempt may show better results..

Thanks all...

What you did is a skew planar wheel, not a clover leaf. The clover leaf is the same but with only three lobes. The antenna - from what I can see - looks nice.

Using one alone does not help. Make a cloverleaf (the one with three lobes) and use that one on the transmitter, the one you made on the reciver and you will experience a quantum leap in your video link quality.

What you did is a skew planar wheel, not a clover leaf. The clover leaf is the same but with only three lobes. The antenna - from what I can see - looks nice.

Using one alone does not help. Make a cloverleaf (the one with three lobes) and use that one on the transmitter, the one you made on the reciver and you will experience a quantum leap in your video link quality.

Markus

I second this. You need to build a 3 lobe for the TX and you will be amazed at your results.

it worked.. I when ahead and used another of the antennas (stock) .. found another.. so I have 2 stock.. to test with..but not sure its even worth it.... I can see the improvement already...

having them where there is no physical barriers (Walls) .. you see clear difference over the stock...

Stock .. it would cut out several times in a minute.. lets just say... 5 or so per minute.. sometimes more sometimes less.. did not have the patience to quantify it..

but with the 4(skew planer ) on the Rx and 3(clover) on the Tx It goes minutes.. with out cutting out.. maybe 10min.. ect..

HUGE.. improvement .. now it does this when both are stationary..

ok now here is the part where I ask the not so intelligent questions..

If I hold the .. Tx in my hand wave it around .. role it .. point it back ect..
ie..perform a simulation as if it on airplane.. it does go out very frequently..

now.. this is indoors.. so I'm thinking .. the walls furniture may be causing.. signal to get "scrambled" my not so technical term.. ... or even me holding is is not good..

I guess the ultimate test will be outdoors..

Now I saw a few post on here about encasing the antenna in foam,
I plan to use a FunCub.. that has large cavity in the fuse..
I was thinking of mounting it in the center tail section..

I used very soft cooper (phone wire) to make these..so was thinking that may be a good idea.. as they are fragile.. or should I not waist time with that..

Well Thanks.. for this thread..

I have a few 900mhz setups that I never did anything with .. those will be next..

You can place your antenna inside the fuselage, no problem. Just make sure that the line of seight is maintained during regular flight manuvers. In other words, that the line between the antennas is never blocked by the motor, battery or other conductive parts. Best spot to place the antenna is below the belly which should not be a problem if you have a landing gear. Out on the wings is also good, or on the top of the rudder.

Getting strange results while holding the tx in your arms is not a surprize. The body also operates like a ground and will have influence on the tuning of the antenna. Then, you of course also can block the signal with your body etc. etc.